*

Kroger ( KR ) gains after lifting annual sales target

*

Accenture ( ACN ) falls as new bookings decreased in Q3

*

Indexes: Dow up 0.1%, S&P 500 down 0.1%, Nasdaq down 0.4%

(Updates to afternoon trading)

By Caroline Valetkevitch

NEW YORK, June 20 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq

were slightly lower on Friday afternoon, with investors on edge

over the Iran-Israel conflict as the U.S. considers whether to

get involved.

Stocks were choppy, with the S&P 500 trimming some losses.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tehran backed

continued discussions with Germany, France, Britain and the EU

and would be prepared to meet again soon following talks in

Geneva.

The White House said on Thursday that Trump will decide in

the next two weeks whether the U.S. will get involved in the

Israel-Iran air war, adding pressure on Tehran to negotiate.

"Investors are a little bit nervous about buying stocks

right in front of this situation and, more specifically, right

in front of this weekend," said Rick Meckler, a partner at

Cherry Lane Investments in New Vernon, New Jersey.

Israel's attacks have been aimed at suppressing Tehran's

ability to build nuclear weapons.

Investors weighed comments from Federal Reserve officials

after the Fed on Wednesday left interest rates unchanged and Fed

Chair Jerome Powell warned inflation could pick up pace over the

summer.

Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he felt the inflation

risk from tariffs was small, and that the Fed should cut rates

as soon as its next meeting. Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin

took a more tempered view, saying there was no urgency to cut

rates.

Tech-related megacap stocks, including Nvidia ( NVDA ), were

the biggest negatives on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 44.37 points,

or 0.11%, to 42,216.03, the S&P 500 lost 6.50 points, or

0.11%, to 5,974.37 and the Nasdaq Composite lost 68.64

points, or 0.35%, to 19,477.63.

Investors are also bracing for any potential spike in

volatility from Friday's "triple witching" - the simultaneous

expiration of single stock options, stock index futures, and

stock index options contracts that happens once a quarter.

Kroger ( KR ) rose 8.9% after the grocery chain increased

its annual sales growth forecast.

Shares of Accenture ( ACN ) fell 6.9% after the IT services

provider said new bookings decreased in the third quarter.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.04-to-1 ratio

on the New York Stock Exchange. There were 87 new highs and 44

new lows on the NYSE.

On the Nasdaq, 1,897 stocks rose and 2,523 fell as

declining issues outnumbered advancers by a 1.33-to-1 ratio.

(Additional reporting by Kanchana Chakravarty and Sukriti Gupta

in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Rod Nickel)